The (one two three) amigas Trio of local artists mentor one another across three decades

By JOHN STANG

The Daily Inter Lake

The three women push each other.

Prod. Nudge. Criticize. Encourage.

With an intimacy usually found only among spouses, they've done this for 30 years, from their early dabbling, through spreading their wings, to a never-ending perfecting of their art.

Karen Leigh, Corrine Lundgren and Marsha Davis blossomed as painters - focusing usually of landscapes, but also on portraits - together over the past three decades.

They will celebrate that benchmark with a showing of roughly 40 oil and watercolor paintings from Thursday through Sept. 3 at The Glacier Gallery on Montana 35 East. An opening reception is scheduled from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

The show's theme is "East Meets West" - a look at the diverse landscape between the hamlets of East Glacier and West Glacier.

The trio - which deflected all questions about age and has raised seven kids - has been interested in painting oils or watercolors since they were young girls.

FORMER TEACHERS Leigh and Lundgren are Montana natives. Davis, a registered nurse, grew up in Kentucky. The three pursued careers and got married - all the while dabbling with painting on the side. All eventually ended up with their families in the Flathead.

The 1970s rolled around.

Separately, each of the three decided dabbling wasn't fulfilling enough. Each wanted to explore and grow as an artist. Each decided that painting full time was the only way to do so.

"I knew I never could be a good artist unless I did it full time. … It was my passion," Davis said.

Leigh, Lundgren and Davis frequently crossed paths at workshops and shows. They found they enjoyed dissecting and analyzing paintings together - trying to figure out how artists create moods, textures and compositions. They also found each was serious about turning a hobby into a serious calling.

"We fed off each other," Davis said.

Lundgren added: "It was invigorating seeing each other."

The three decided to plunge in and put on a joint show in 1977 of paintings of the Somers area. Since then, they've participated in about 20 shows together.

Their most famous effort was a 5,000-mile 1998 trek that wandered almost on a whim across Montana.

They would drive until someone would spy a scene she liked. They would then stop to sketch, photograph and paint enough so they could recapture the scene's essence later in their three individual studios.

Naturally, one would often spot something in a scene that the others could not see as artists. Or one would work faster or slower than the others. Each finished works that the others did not develop beyond sketches.

But each respected the others enough to allow her colleagues the routes, places and times to capture and interpret a piece of Montana in her unique vision.

THROUGHOUT THE years, they helped each other grow as artists.

Davis began in oil paintings. Leigh and Lundgren were watercolor specialists. Lundgren and Davis prefer an impressionistic approach - mood and overall vibe, not exact recreations - being the main thrusts. Leigh loves taking a detailed realistic approach - often moving from wilderness landscapes to old buildings machinery and tools.

"We call her the 'junk lady,'" Lundgren said of Leigh, who could not make it to a recent interview with the other two.

Even if any of the three does not sign her paintings, the other two can pick them out of a crowd of similar pictures.

Leigh's work has a certain type of elegance, exacting detail and well-thought-out design to her paintings. Davis' pictures have an almost trademark exuberance. Lundgren's pieces flow from one part of a painting to another and then to another in a way that the other two can easily spot.

As time passed, the trio nurtured each other on crossing back and forth between watercolors and oils; attempting more sophisticated mixing of colors; studying and capturing light; exuding subtle vibes like wind, warmth and cold; and planning in advance where the elements of the landscape should go to create a better overall picture.

"You try to create an atmosphere, a time, a place," Davis said.

Each encouraged the others to take more chances, to try new techniques.

"That's the big thing, to grow at every level," Lundgren said.

Davis added: "It's an ongoing thing. I still have so much to learn. … You always feel the best painting is going to be the next one."

How each still wants to grow is a hard-to-define goal. The three know were each wants to improve. They speak a language understood mostly by artists, and on a wavelength fine-tuned by 30 years of criticizing each other.

That's upfront, hard criticism - the type that emerges from deep trust and caring. Not polite niceties that make an artist feel good but tells her nothing. It's the type of criticism that spurs growth.

"That's why we do it," Davis said.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com